Early Briefing

*Nationally, employment rose by 110,000 jobs in September; figures from August were revised from a loss of 4,000 jobs to a gain of 89,000. Health-care and professional and technical services jobs gained; we talk to a day-care provider in Woodbridge and an Internet security firm in Bowie. See story

The former chief executive of Dutch retailer Royal Ahold, the owner of Giant Food and former owner of U.S. Foodservice in Columbia, will pay the company $7 million to settle claims stemming from a financial scandal linked to U.S. Foodservice. See story

Local regulators struggle with how to punish garbage pickup companies that violate rules but keep those companies in business so that trash can continue to be picked up. See story